How cold is too cold?

[crazy4fids]

It has been many years since we had birds. The last time we had them, was when we rented an apartment and did not pay for our own utilities. We live in Wisconsin.
Now that we have been in our house for over 8 years, we have become energy conserving misers. We have become accustomed to 68 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at night. The birds have their own sleeping room at night and we put them in there at dusk and give them their daily ration of fresh seeds and pellets. We give them about an hour to crunch on, then we say good night, shut off the light and close the door.

We have three boxers (dogs) in the house. They aren't know for their heavy winter coats. They wear sweatshirts when it is really cold. Mostly at night; its the only way we can keep them from sneaking into our bed at night. We have learned that typically, if we are cold, they are probably cold too.

I am wondering if I should maybe monitor the temperature in the room to find out how cold it actually gets in there? Also, maybe we should get a small electric heater?

How about the rest of you who live where it gets cold during the winter? How do you control your climate?

 

[sodakat]

I use a space heater in my bird room but since my bird room is a glass sunroom and because I live where it is common to get to minus twenty overnight, the room is sometimes in the low 60s even with the heater. I worried about naked Lolly last winter so placed her in the cage nearest the heater. The others can just loft their feathers to trap air. Lolly did just fine last winter, BTW.

 

[Hrtofau2]

Thank you for asking this.Dave and I where going to ask much the same question a bit later today. We generally keep the house at about 72. (Dave has thin skin and even that is too cold for him, but any hotter and I would roast! I wear tanks and shorts year round as it is!) But we worry about Ducky and Boris and would that be warm enough for them. Thanks again for asking!

 

[Jeddy]

I use an avian heat panel from Avi tech. Very nice . Bodie loves his. Provides a gentle warmth for them.

www.avitech.com

 

[JLcribber]

If your birds have been living there for 8 years I'm sure they are acclimatized to whatever temperature you provide. They handle cold better than they handle heat. If they've been living in colder air for a number of seasons they do have more undergrowth.

 

[Mizzely]

In the winter my birds definitely live in 60 degrees at night and sometimes during the day. I do offer them heated perches and something to snuggle with, but generally I think they are fine without them. They do adjust just fine! Make gradual changes of a few degrees every few days if you are worried

 

[newatthistx]

We generally keep the house at about 72. (Dave has thin skin and even that is too cold for him

Haha.....I'm right there with Dave, anything under 75 and I'm cold.....needless to say my house is like a tropical climate all year round....76-77 in the summer, and 79-80 in the winter

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I keep my birdroom at 70F in winter. My vet says I could lower it to 62F if I needed to conserve energy, but I just keep it at 70. I do provide those Thermotec perches for the birds in the winter; they get turned on the first of November, or when it stays below 65 F for five days in a row. They love those perches and tend to sleep on them at night. In the cockatiel and budgie flock cages, I have two heated perches, ones on each side of the cage and the birds compete for them; paired birds will sleep on them together.

Sunshine Senegal will not go into her cage even to sleep on her heated perch, so one of the cockatiels usually sleeps on it instead. Sunny prefers to perch on a platform up close to the heater which hangs from the canary cage. This year I have purchased a new boing to hang from the ceiling in front of the propane furnace and I think it will prove to be a popular place to perch on cold nights.

 

[Stormcloud]

I agree with John that most adult parrots should have no problems with temperatures around 60F.

 

[Sapphire Moon]

This year I have purchased a new boing to hang from the ceiling in front of the propane furnace and I think it will prove to be a popular place to perch on cold nights.

Lois, I was wondering about the safety of my propane furnace. It is actually a small stove that can heat my downstairs where the majority of my birds are. I was hoping that since it is still practically new that it would not be a hazard around the birds. We also have oil heat and I keep that at about 68. It does not come on unless the propane stove is off.

 

[Anne & Gang]

Lois, I was wondering about the safety of my propane furnace. It is actually a small stove that can heat my downstairs where the majority of my birds are. I was hoping that since it is still practically new that it would not be a hazard around the birds. We also have oil heat and I keep that at about 68. It does not come on unless the propane stove is off.

I worked for over 17 years for a fireplace manufactuer. I can tell you that propane heat is considered completely safe. With any such appliance you have to regularly maintain it and make sur eit is operating properly.

 

[DQTimnehs]

I have an oil filled ceramic heater in the bird room. I usually set it at 21 C during the day (the room also gets sun so is usually warmer) and 24 C at night. When the birds come out to the kitchen I turn the house heat up to 23 C.

 

[roxynoodle]

I only heat my house to 64 and my birds have done fine with it. Even in the hottest of summer days, I have the AC keeping the house at about 71. I hate being hot!

I did have a 3 day power outage a few years ago and the wind chills outside were about -36! I had their cages as close to the wood burning stove as I could get them, with blankets around the sides and back to hold in the heat, and they were fine. They were happier through it than I was, at the other end of the room. I was about to give up and try to sneak them into a hotel when it finally came back on.

Merlin has a plucked belly and has been here 2 winters now and has done fine. She is more plucked this year and I will have to see how she does. If I need to I will get her an Avi-tech heat panel. We are in the process of getting ready to move into the new bird room, and it's a smaller and warmer room than the front room is. So I think they will actually appreciate this winter more. However, it does force me to hang onto my 2 smaller, unused cages because should there be another power outage, I know I will need to be able to move them to that wood burning stove again. Pete's cage does not fit through the doorways. Merlin's double stack does, but it's a 250lb cage and not my favorite thing to be moving around.

 

[Animal_lover]

With those of you with heated perches are you nervous with the wires?...I'm sure the wires are covered in a hard plastic but are they fool proof? I'm sure my two would love them. I'm "arguing" with my husband about turning in the heat. The kitchen / sun room where the birds are is 60-62 overnight and with the windows it's quickly to warm up....the rest of the house is a chilly 59!. They are currently heated with two separate systems..

 

[Mizzely]

The wires are outside the cage and the connection to the cage prevents then from pulling it in. It is also covered just in case. I've had mine two years and they've never tried to play with them.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

No, Thermotec perches are not completely birdproof. My CAG opened his and chewed the wires; but the voltage is so low, he did not get hurt. I complained to the company and they sent me a brand new perch and told me these possible accidents are why they use a AC/DC converter. No one else has ever opened their perch and got to the wires. Still, I check the perches for cracks or loose areas every day when I do the safety check on the toys in the cages.

 

[kimmie99]

OHHH didn't think about having to move my cages back into living room if need be. Kenzi's I can by taking off that seed guard but Oscar's - too big to fit! If it gets real cold and for so long, we start up the woodstove. However because the IDIOT that put the thermostats up, the heat doesn't ever come on on the kids side of the house and it's DD's bedroom that has been turned into the critter room. We have that area seperated by pocket doors so we close the one where the thermostat faces so their heat can come on (we have two heating zones). Ours (or living room, kitchen and our bedroom and utility room) doesn't come on because the thermostat for that sits RIGHT ACROSS from the woodstove! Temps can get to the 80's so definitely no heat coming on. But we like our bedroom cold and I use one of those portable oil heaters for the utility room where the cats are kept when they aren't out.

I was thinking of getting those warming panels but for two cages, that's not so cost effective. I think I'll get a space heater for their room if I find I need one.

 

[PicklesParrot]

WOW. Ya'll people with your 60 degree air are crazy! CRAZY I tell you! The lowest I can handle is about 72 and then I'm bundling up!! But, then again I am a floridian and have been for 30 years..... So I guess 30 years of 80-90 degree weather... I might be the crazy one... lol.

 

[Grey15]

I have no control over my heat (old house converted to apartments) and my neighbors refuse to turn it up because of the wife's hot flashes. (Fan? Crack a window?? Arghhh!) I'm so glad this topic came up because my apartment gets down to about 62 at night in the winter. I have one space heater that I leave on at night but the bird room is a huge room that's open to the living room and kitchen so I wonder if the heater does any real good. I had a second heater but both of them on at the same time trip the breaker. I had been putting the heater by Morgan's cage but now I have Whiskey and his cage is across the room so the heater is in the middle of the room. I was worried. Sounds like they'll be ok though. Thanks for the peace of mind.

 

[Birdiemarie]

I keep it between 68-69F and naked Ruby does fine. I have a space heater in the room during the winter to make sure it doesn't go lower and cover my vent in the summer so the AC doesn't doesn't get too cold.